Our Family (Diana Wendy Cassidy's Birth Story)
by BanditQueen22
Summary: Neal Cassidy and his son Henry are sitting in a hallway in the hospital waiting for the new addition to the family to be born and Henry has a fairy tale for Neal to read to him while they wait. [One Shot] [Swan Thief/Swanfire Family]


Emma's screaming could be heard in the hall. Neal would be in the delivery room with her but somebody had to watch their son Henry.

The five-year-old was sitting quietly next to him, swinging his small legs back and forth while his wife of eleven months gave birth to their second child. Emma had gone into labor in the middle of the night and the Cassidy family had rushed to get to the hospital in their old yellow bug. Henry was barely awake through it all and once the boys had settled down in the hall he had gone to sleep. But he had been fully awake ever since hearing Emma scream.

Right now Henry was staring at a fairy tale book about Snow White that they had gotten in a used bookstore for his last birthday.

"Daddy?" He heard Henry ask.

Neal looked down at his son. "Yeah, Henry?".

The child held his book up in front of Neal and looked at him with pleading eyes. "Read t' me please".

Normally, Emma would read him the fairy tales. Neal would almost never unless Emma was too tired from working at the restaurant or had a really bad cold or the flu. She knew that, because of reasons unknown to her, Neal was uncomfortable with reading them. But right now, Emma was obviously unavailable so Neal smiled and took the book from him. "Sure buddy," he patted his lap. "Hop on.".

Henry gladly climbed onto his father's lap and grinned as Neal opened the book to the first page. There was an illustration of a castle atop a hill on the far corner of a village. It was wintertime in the drawing, snow covering almost every inch of the scenery. Neal began to read. "'Once upon a time, there was a kind queen. One day, while sewing at the window, she pricked her finger on the needle and watched as a drop of her blood fell on the snow on the ebony windowsill. The queen fondly stared at it and thought to herself, "I wish I could have a child with skin as white as snow. Hair black as ebony and lips red as blood.". And one year later, the queen's wish came true.'".

"Is wishing dat powerful?" Henry asked, interrupting the story.

"Sometimes. Mostly it depends if you're a good person or not. Good people usually get what they wish for." Neal replied. He wasn't actually sure if he believed that himself. He had often wished for his father to come to his senses and see that magic wasn't as important as family was. So did that mean he was a bad person or was wishing on stars and such a waste of time?

Henry stared up at him. "Den you must've gotten what wished for all da time, right daddy? You jus said dat good people get what day wish for.".

Neal just stared at his son. He stared at his big toothy childish grin and felt a smile on his face as well. His and Emma's innocent little boy was sitting on his lap and had basically just told Neal that he was a good person. Well ,he had an answer now. Wishing was a waste of time. Because, as his son clearly thought, he was a good person.

He ruffled Henry's hair. "Don't get sappy on me, buddy. Let's get back to the story.". Neal skipped the part about the queen dying and just said that she and the king divorced because of reasons. And before Henry could question him he continued. "'When the queen went away, she had left her husband the king with a newborn daughter. Whom they had named Snow White. The king soon remarried to a noble woman who seemed very kind on the outside. But on the inside she was vain and selfish. The king met a, uh... The king went on vacation and never came back so the new queen took over. As soon as the queen did, she made the young Snow White a maid in her own home.".

The two boys heard Emma let out a bigger scream and Henry looked so worried that Neal pulled him closer for a quick hug. "It's okay. Mommy's just being tested by the stork. The mommies have to scream really loudly to see if, uh, if the baby will be a girl or a boy." Neal prayed that Henry bought it. He looked down and saw his kid nod slightly.

Neal let out a small sigh of relief and continued the story. "'A few years passed and the queen became jealous of Snow White's beauty. For it was known throughout the land that the young princess was very fair. So every day the queen went to her magic mirror and asked it, "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?". And every day the magic mirror would tell the her, "You are, my queen.". But one morning, when the queen asked the magic mirror, he replied, "You my queen are fair indeed, however Snow White is fairer than thee.".

The queen was so outraged that she ordered a huntsman to take the young princess into the forest and, um, take her to the seven dwarf's' cottage to stay forever so he did. But some months later Snow White said forget this and returned to the castle and banished the queen and lived happily ever after. And she met a prince and they fell in love at some point. The end.'" Neal finished. Yeah, he made up the end. But to him it sounded better than the original. He just hoped that when Henry was older he wouldn't read it again and call him out on it.

Henry was giving him a look. Oh sure, he bought the screaming test but he didn't buy his alternate ending? "What is it, buddy? Do you want to know more about the dwarfs?".

Henry shook his head. "Is dat it?" He asked.

"What do you mean?".

"What happen to Snow White after da story?".

"I told you, she met a prince and they eventually fell in love. All while ruling her kingdom.".

Henry took the book back from his dad and placed in on his lap. "Did she an da prince get a visit from da stork?".

Neal paused for a moment, wondering what to tell him. Then it came to him. With a smile he said, "Yeah, they did. The stork brought them a baby girl. And she grew up and was tough but caring. Definitely her mother's child. And when their daughter grew up, she fell in love with an evil magician's son. They had countless adventures together before settling down themselves.".

"Settling down?" Henry asked, a smile slowing creeping up on his chubby face.

"Yup. They got married and the stork gave them a baby boy. And, a few years later, another baby.".

Before Henry could ask if the second baby was another prince or a princess, a smiling nurse came out of the delivery room and walked over to them. "Mr. Cassidy?".

Neal almost bolted up. But he remembered just in time that his son was still on his lap. He picked Henry up and held him on his hip. "Is Emma okay? Is the baby-".

"Your wife and baby are as healthy as they could ever be. Would you two like to see them?" She asked.

Neal nodded and followed the nurse to the room Emma was in. Emma was sitting in the hospital bed with her arms wrapped around a baby in a pink blanket. She sounded breathless and her forehead was covered in sweat but Emma was grinning just as wide as she was when Henry was born. She looked up at the doorway when she heard footsteps and as soon as she saw Neal and Henry she nodded for them to come over.

The nurse exited the room to give them some privacy as Neal walked over the the bed and sat Henry beside Emma so he could get a better look at the baby. Neal then gave Emma a long and sweet kiss on the lips before turning back to their son.

"Henry, kid, I'd like you to meet your baby sister." Emma said softly. She and her husband watched as Henry just stared at the newborn baby in her arms.

He looked up at Emma and then Neal and then turned his gaze back to the baby. "What's her name?" He asked.

Neal and Emma looked at each other and then started a whispering conversation, trying to agree on the baby's name. When they came to an agreement they turned back to Henry. With a smile Emma told him, "Diana Wendy Cassidy.".

Emma then handed Neal the baby and wrapped her arms around Henry. Neal smiled down at the baby. "Welcome to the world, Diana.".

Neal was suddenly aware that he was married to the woman of his dreams, that they had a son and now a daughter and that he had a family. The lost boy who once thought, long ago when his times were tough, that he could never have a family again. Neal, however, wasn't aware that he let a few tears drop until Henry was hugging his leg.

"Daddy? You okay?." Henry asked innocently.

Neal ruffled his hair and smiled at him. "Yeah, buddy, daddy's okay.".

He saw that Emma was holding out her hand, so with his now free hand, he held onto Emma's. She gave him an understanding smile. Of course she would understand. For years, Emma was a lost girl herself. It was possible that she was having the same awareness that he was having right now. The awareness that although they may be small and fragile, they were together. They were a family.


End file.
